The Fort Belvoir Military Railroad (FBMRR) was constructed in 1918 when Camp A.A. Humphreys was made a semi-permanent cantonment as the U.S. entered into World War I. The two main objectives for FMBRR were to bring supplies and troops to camp for its rapid construction and war mobilization and to train engineer troops on the building of railroads, bridges, and other facilities essential to the U.S. war effort in France.
Engineer troops began work for the 4.51-mile, standard gauge railroad in January 1918 by clearing heavily wooded areas before building wooden trestles to span low-lying areas. Facility No. 1433 replaced Wooden Trestle No. 5, which first carried FBMRR above U.S. Route 1. The 102nd Engineers, under Cornelius Vanderbilt III, built trestle Nos. 5 and 6 in 1918. Facility No. 1433, a single-span, concrete, single-track railroad bridge measuring 14 feet in width, was constructed in 1928. The bridge was removed in 2014 for road widening.
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